Cardinal Clatter: Ball State goes deep in backfield without Banks

Player of the game

Ball State WR Jordan Williams caught 12 passes for 120 yards. His two touchdown catches came at crucial times, one to extend Ball State's lead just before halftime and the second a weaving run to finish a 20-yard screen pass after Akron cut the lead to 11.

Behind the box

With rotation TB Horactio Banks home in Chicago to attend the funeral of high school teammate Demarius Reed, Ball State turned to another option to shore up the depth in its thin backfield: TE Zane Fakes. The senior took several rotations at running back and got three carries for 21 yards, including a powerful, pile-moving 11-yard run. In high school, Fakes as a tailback ran for 2,233 yards as a senior. Freshman Teddy Williamson added 24 yards in relief.

Locker room lowdown

During pregame, it was clear the wind would play a factor as punt after punt was caught and stopped by a sudden gust. Ball State needed to use CB Jeffery Garrett as a holder on kickoffs because the ball kept blowing down, and most of the kicks and punts going south were knocked down by the wind.

Akron K Robert Stein opened the scoring with a wind-aided 51-yard field goal. Cardinals QB Keith Wenning said the wind didn't affect the passing game too much, but his coach, Pete Lembo, said it limited the ability to throw deep.

"It definitely factored into our thinking," Lembo said. "For example, to start the (second) half, we decided to kick off into the wind, knowing that might help their field position, but we felt like we could end up in a close game in the fourth quarter."

Statistically speaking

? TB Jahwan Edwards posted his second 100-yard game of the season, rushing for 120 yards on a season-high 25 carries.

? WR Willie Snead had 100 yards and two scores on seven catches. It was his sixth 100-yard game of the season and he moved into sixth place in the school's record book for single season receiving yards (1,057) and second for touchdowns (10).

? Wenning threw for 240 yards and surpassed 10,000 yards for his career. He did, however, throw for fewer than 300 yards for the first time this season.

? DEs Jonathan Newsome and Nick Miles each had 1½ sacks

? Ball State recorded three turnovers for the fourth time this season, including Garrett's fourth interception of the year and CB Tyree Holder's first of his career.

? Ball State only had two penalties for 9 yards. Akron had eight for 57, with four resulting in first down and several more declined.

He said it

"It's totally understandable that Horactio wanted to go home and be around friends and family, and we fully support him on that. At least we knew early to mid-week that that was going to take place so we could make adjustments." - Ball State coach Pete Lembo on Banks' absence for Reed's funeral

Record

Ball State moved to 8-1 and 5-0 in the Mid-American Conference West Division.

Next

Ball State comes home for a MAC game against Central Michigan at 8 p.m. Nov. 6.